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Monday, August 18, 2008

August 16, 2008: Robbies Stein

31/12/2012: Robbies Stein has closed down.

After a delicious but modestly portioned breakfast at Minimo, Michael and I spent a couple of hours running errands along Sydney Rd. Before hopping on the tram back home, it was too tempting to stop at Robbies Stein for a small, late lunch. This turned out to be a cracking idea - unbeknownst to us, Robbies (I wish they'd use an apostrophe) offers a range of 'grazing plates'. Even better, there are plenty of vegetarian ones. How to choose between polenta, gyoza, dukkah-spiced eggplant chips, haloumi, crumbed olives, dips?

Well, part of the choice was made for us because twistedbrick particularly recommended the hand cut chips ($6.50). (Because otherwise, me ordering chips? Never happens. *cough*) They were fine specimens indeed. You could serve these without a dipping sauce and they'd still impress. As it was, I was happy to give them their dose of aioli.

But would you, could you, believe that those fabulous chips were upstaged by the mushrooms?! No ordinary white buttons, an assortment of mushrooms were crumbed, deep-fried and served with aioli ($8.50). They were exquisite. Juicy but never soggy, and so flavoursome. I couldn't bear to sully them with the (really rather good) aioli.

The lemon, lime and bitters also deserves a shout-out; made with mouth-puckering fresh lemon juice, it's the perfect antidote to all that fried food. Robbies Stein also offers a few meal-sized dishes and I hear they do a mean lemon tart, but I can personally and very enthusiastically recommend them for your mid-afternoon grazing needs.

Those chips look absolutely mighty! (I'm like you, Cindy, cannot turn away from any form of chip!). And the thought of crumbed mushrooms sends me into a delighted tizz. Looks like an expedition to Brunswick is called for, and soon.

Hi Bella! The next three posts to come are all home-cooked, so that should restore our usual balance. :-) Actually, we've been making a lot of old favourites and not blogging them.

Hi Sarah, and thanks for stopping by to comment! It's cool to know that our reviews are useful to a few other people. A lychee martini sounds right up my alley - I'll have to make my next trip to Robbies a bit later in the day. :-D

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did, Hayley! I'm sure you could squeeze this and Minimo into the same trip as we did, just stop off at Savers for a lengthy food break in between. :-D